1928: The rise of giant merchants

Once Yu Qiaqing fell, Ye Luo became the real leader of the Shanghai business community.

These wavering businessmen immediately understood that the purpose of holding this meeting was to ask them to pay "protection fees". In name, it was to share the military aid expenses for Ye's investment, but in fact it was to force them to take sides.

The businessmen of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang consortium headed by Yu Qiaqing have shown with practical actions that they are determined to follow Wang's footsteps and no longer stand on the side of the principal.

In this way, after the Battle of Songhu is over, someone will always be liquidated.

When the principal came to his senses, the first to be cut was the Shanghai business community!

To understand the problem, the businessmen invited to the meeting donated generously, saying that saving the country and resisting Japan is the duty of all Chinese. They have made money for so many years, and they should rush to help the country in times of national crisis.

Ye Luo was very satisfied to collect more than 57 million oceans from these people.

Nearly 3,000 businessmen, big and small, with an average donation of nearly 20,000 per person, helped the principal's 19th Route Army to relieve a lot of pain.

After this wave of donations, the principal won't have to worry about military expenses for at least a month.

On the day the money was received, the principal personally called from the Party General Office to thank him: "A Luo, this incident can be resolved so quickly, thanks to your assistance."

"The Party Chairman is too kind. The bulk of the military aid comes from those patriotic businessmen in Shanghai, and I just made up a small part." Ye Luo replied modestly, "I hope the Party Chairman will not forget what he promised me before."

"Of course I dare not forget." The principal smiled happily, "When you have time, let your sister come to Shanghai to treat you to a meal. She has been missing you in Xikou for a while."

"How can that be? If your sister comes, I will do my best to be a good host." Ye Luo said politely, but thought in his heart, I asked you for resources and industries, but you sent your wife here. Do you want me to help you give birth to a son?

"In short, the Japanese invaders will definitely not get any benefits from this war. When the war subsides, I will consider reorganizing the southern economy and business community. You just wait and see." The principal added.

Ye Luo nodded with satisfaction after hearing this, and said with a smile: "I hope the party leader can give more green lights to Ye's investment at that time."

"Of course, your Ye's investment is a national treasure. The north dare not say anything, and the south is up to you. Don't worry." After the principal finished speaking nice words, he hung up the phone on the grounds of busy military affairs.

Deng Wenyi, who was waiting next to him, immediately reported to him the war report and situation in the north.

"Since the fall of the north, the relationship between Zhang Hanqing and Ye Luo seems to have become a little subtle." Deng Wenyi whispered, "After the fall of Jinzhou, Zhang Hanqing has not seen him again. The two have not even communicated by phone or letter once, as if they don't know each other."

Everyone knows that Ye Luo was the one who was most opposed to Zhang Hanqing's departure and not dispatching elite troops to defend Fengtian.

It is said that before the Fengtian Incident, he went to see Zhang Hanqing on purpose, but still failed to persuade him.

Deng Wenyi's implication is that Ye Luo may have broken up with Zhang Hanqing because of this matter.

The principal's biggest concern before was that Ye Luo would take Ye's investment to stand on Zhang Hanqing's side.

After all, the two warlords, Jiang in the south and Zhang in the north, will inevitably fight in the future. Whoever Ye Luo, the God of Wealth, supports, will have at least a 10% chance of winning.

"Even if they really break up, Ye Luo cannot be used for the time being." The principal pondered for a moment and shook his head, "There is no place for him in the Kuomintang now. Will he be willing to be below Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi? But if he is promoted to be on par with these two people, will Ziwen and others agree?"

The four major families of Kong, Song, Jiang and Chen are already connected by blood, and it is not something that can be cut off just by saying so.

And from Ye Luo's various words and deeds, the principal always suspected that he had connections with the underground organization behind the scenes.

Although there are not a few such high-level members of the Kuomintang, to enter his most direct faction, there must be absolutely no connection with the underground organization.

Even the eldest sister of the Song family who has connections with the underground organization has been excluded by them, not to mention Ye Luo, an outsider.

"What the Party Chairman said is very true. I didn't think it through." Deng Wenyi nodded in agreement, and then asked, "It is said that the performance of the Tax Police Corps in this battle is very good. Have you considered integrating it into the national army?"

"I thought the Tax Police Corps was a joke of A Luo and Ziwen, but I didn't expect it to have such a big effect. How could such a powerful army fall into the hands of others?"

The principal pondered for a moment and said calmly,

"Since he is determined not to go into politics or the military, such an army of tens of thousands of people cannot be left to him for a long time."

The principal's implication is to incorporate the Tax Police Corps.

Historically, after the Battle of Songhu, the principal transferred Wen Yingxing from the Tax Police Corps under the pretext of rectifying military affairs, and arranged his confidant Huang Jie to serve as the second head of the Corps.

In addition, he also inserted a large number of his officers into the Tax Police Corps, and through a series of secret operations, he blackmailed the Tax Police Corps from Song Ziwen.

Song Ziwen, who had no real power but only financial resources, had no choice but to watch his carefully crafted iron lion become a tool of the principal.

But now the Tax Police Corps is Ye Luo's property, and he will not let the principal take it away easily.

"I understand, I will arrange the reorganization now." Deng Wenyi felt a little sorry for Ye Luo in his heart. In fact, he felt that Ye Luo should take advantage of the victory at this time, establish himself as the king of the mountain, and go to the north to conquer a piece of land, and he could become a rich and powerful warlord.

Why should he be exploited by the principal all the time?

On the other side, the principal's wife, who had just returned from the opera, was taking off her coat. She didn't care that Deng Wenyi was there, and walked directly into the party's general office. She sat down with her plump thighs lifted up, and asked leisurely: "How is it, is the war in Shanghai going well?"

"Thanks to the more than 80 million yuan of aid from A Luo, the logistics problem has finally been stabilized." The principal winked at Deng Wenyi, and the latter left tactfully.

"I said it wouldn't be wrong to ask for help from him, but you still didn't believe it. In the end, the one who helped you was neither my brother nor your brother-in-law, but my foster brother who has no kinship with our family."

The principal's wife rolled her eyes at him, feeling complacent.

Since the failure of the wave of using the military funds for buying airplanes for stock speculation, she has been much more content, and her voice in the Song family is not as important as before.

This made her, who was obsessed with power, very uncomfortable. This time she found an opportunity to finally be proud of herself. She was ready to slowly take over some of the power of the Song family and the Kuomintang.

Don't think that she is just a woman and does not hold an important position, so she cannot influence the internal affairs of the Kuomintang.

In fact, the identity of the principal's wife as the first lady is very useful, and she has cultivated many direct descendants for herself.

The principal laughed dryly a few times and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, you are right about this. Look, I just called A Luo, and it happens that Ling Jun's birthday is coming. You can take some time to go to Shanghai and get in touch with his wife."

"Okay, it happens that Ye's clothing is going to release a new style of cheongsam. How about I be a model?" The principal's wife's closet is full of cheongsams, many of which she has never worn, but she just likes to collect these clothes and jewelry.

The principal wanted her to stay away from him so that he could have a better private life. He immediately nodded and said: "After the war stops, you should stay at the Ye family for a while, and don't let the Ye family think that we will stop communicating after we get the money."

"I know." The principal's wife pursed her lips and smiled. (End of this chapter)